Future Echoes Through the Past
by GlasgowGirl25
Summary: A story inspired by The Patriot. Ali is a 21st century Scottish girl on her way to America when she crashes into a tree. Waking up she finds herself in 1778 and comes across the notorious Colonel Tavington and sparks fly. My first story so be nice!
1. Empty Roads

Future Echoes Though The Past

Story Synopsis: A multi layered story inspired by The Patriot. Ali is a 21st century Scottish girl on her way to start a new life in America when she loses control of her car and crashes into a tree. Looking for help she finds that somehow, mysteriously, she has travelled back to the 18th century and right into the middle of the Revolutionary War. Searching for answers and a way back to her own time she becomes involved with the notorious Colonel Tavington and the Dragoons, the last thing that Ali needs. An immediate dislike forms between the two of them but an uneasy alliance also forms as she needs his help to get back to her own time. A close friendship with Captain Wilkins also forms much to the chagrin of the Colonel. However, unknown to the both of them a new enemy is watching, one that is eager to cause trouble for the Colonel but more so for his new charge. Ali believes in love but isn't looking for anything even resembling it as she has been burned before and Tavington believes that love is only for the weak. Can these polar opposites find a way to co-exist? Can Ali trust Tavington? Can he treat her as more than a burden that he has been forced to carry? Will Ali ever be able to make it back to her own time? And can the two of them work together and find a similar footing? Rated M for use of strong language, violence and adult encounters.

**Please be warned that while I do not condone rape in any way, shape or form there will be a scene later on that has some fairly graphic rape. Not for the squicky. If you don't like then don't read. Supernatural/Romance/Fantasy genre. This also completely changes the original story, the Martins are not involved in this story and the war is basically in the background and won't be involved very much.**

**Authors Note: I know that a lot of people will be thinking "Oh god not another time travel story!" but please, stick with it, it does, in my opinion, get better. I'm flinging a lot of different scenarios and genres in it so please, give it a go. What harm will it do you?**

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Chapter One: Empty roads

From what she had read at least 50% or maybe even more car accidents happened on country roads. This wasn't something that overly worried her though, she was a very capable driver and had never even had a parking ticket let alone been involved in a crash. She was still slightly apprehensive to be driving on one of the most dangerous country roads in Britain. The last thing she needed was to get involved in an accident. Granted, she would probably walk away without a scratch on her. Her car was a 1960's Landrover and was basically a tank. It ran beautifully, and every year when she had it M.O.T'd the mechanics were always impressed that it still ran so well. It had a few minor faults but other than that it ran like a dream.

She had the front windows rolled all the way down, the cool breeze rushing through the car's interior and whipping her hair back from her face, cooling her warm skin. The radio was turned up and she sang along with her music, the sounds of Lady Gaga filling the interior of her car and leaking out as she drove along the deserted road. It was only 10 am and she had left her house in Glasgow at 6am and was pleased at the progress she had made already. Her final destination was Southampton where she was getting the ferry across to New York and then a 3000 mile drive across the great continent to her final destination, San Francisco. She had, rather purposefully, set her GPS to find her the quickest but quietest way to Southampton. Her journey time was scheduled at twelve hours all in including rest stops.

Her friends had all questioned her so many times as to why she was insisting on taking her ancient and, admittedly, rather scruffy and bashed looking car to America when she could have quite easily bought a newer one when she had arrived. They didn't understand just how much the car meant to her. It had been her fathers and he had loved it and maintained it meticulously when he had still been alive. She could still remember watching him clean it when she had been a little girl, giggling when he had splashed her with the soapy sponge and letting her help him clean the car. It had sentimental reasons as well as the fact that it ran great.

Smiling to herself she checked the speedometer and pressed the gas pedal down lightly, speeding up a bit. This trip was probably the most difficult thing that she had done, it had taken a great deal of courage to leave her home town, well, her home country really. She was going to miss it like crazy. She was a patriot of her country, she loved it so much, the scenery, the cities and even the weather. Ok so maybe the near constant rain in the summer was annoying but when things heated up she had been perfectly situated in the central belt to reap the benefits of the fine weather.

The trip had taken weeks, well, months really, of meticulous planning and had involved help from people on three continents. She couldn't believe that she was actually on her way now. In 24 hours she would be sailing across the Atlantic and on her way to her new life. She was nervous, a feeling in the pit of her stomach that had been there for months. The opportunity that she had now, to make something of her life and her skills was amazing and something that she was incredibly grateful for but…

There was still something missing, she felt, that empty hole in her chest that was waiting to be filled with…something. She couldn't really tell exactly what it was but she could pretty much hazard a guess. Her thoughts had been more and more troubled recently, pestered by the ghosts of her past relationship with…him. Danny Mason, the man she had been almost blindingly in love with for nearly four years, the man who had made her, at her best moments, feel as big as the world and whom she had trusted implicitly and he was also the man who had broken her heart. Well, she couldn't really call it broken. What he had done was annihilate it, destroy it so much that it was a mere shadow of it's former self so that even now, nearly two years on, she still felt the sharp splinters of hatred and regret spiking her every now and again.

She had to stop thinking about it, it was something that was in her past and couldn't be changed. Her mother had always told her that everyone had something in their past that they wished they could change and no amount of wishing and hoping would make a damn bit of difference to it. She had also told her that things that happen in the past have a way of casting a shadow in the future, they caused echoes and she had to be careful of them. She couldn't let something that had happened in the past taint the future, how would she be able to look forward if she was constantly looking back?

Sighing she pushed her hair back from her face and focused on the road ahead of her. Outside the sky was a gorgeous, flawless blue and not a cloud in sight. The sun was rising steadily and already the temperature was rising, the breeze that was rushing through her car was gradually warming up. Even though it had only just gone into June, the past month all of the U.K had been hit by an almost oppressive heat wave. Every day had been hotter than the last, the days were sticky with the moisture in the air and the mugginess continued into the nights making them unbearably warm.

"_You gotta love British weather," _She thought to herself, smiling as she did. "_Whenever you expect rain you get sunshine and when you expect sunshine it usually snows!"_

Beside her Kalika, her husky, had her head resting on the passenger door elbow rest, the rest of her sprawled across the long bench style seat, her fur ruffling in the breeze as she panted, enjoying the cool air. Glancing over at her beloved pet she smiled and reached across to her, stroking her hand over the soft, thick fur and smiled again as she panted in happiness, her tail wagging lightly under her. "Good girl, you don't mind us driving 4000 miles do you baby?" She crooned to her beloved dog who responded by wagging her tail so hard it seemed that her backside would fall off.

Settling back more comfortably in her seat she focused on the road stretching out in front of her. She was now in the outskirts of Stafford and she had to admit that the scenery was lovely. Not a patch on home, she thought to herself but definitely beautiful. The road that she was driving down was narrow but still had plenty of room for anyone overtaking her although that seemed a moot point as the road was completely empty. The road had darkened as she had entered a long, seemingly endless avenue of enormous trees. The trees, which she thought were large oak's, lined the road, their trunks so close to each other that there seemed no room for anything to possibly squeeze between them. There were the occasional flowers as well, the odd smattering of wild roses, foxgloves and honeysuckle fighting for the few remaining rays of sunlight that tried in vain to access through the canopy of dark green leaves.

Removing her sunglasses she shoved them on the dashboard underneath her GPS. She felt her mouth twist in a sudden yawn as her exhaustion from the stress of planning her journey started to catch up with her. Stifling the yawn she closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. She wasn't actually tired, she was too hyped to actually feel the need to sleep but she knew that she should take a break. She opened her eyes quickly, just catching herself as the steering wheel slid through her slackened grip. Catching the wheel she cursed under her breath and jerked the car back to the left. Her momentary loss of concentration had been stupid, she thought to herself, she really needed to find a place to pullover for a break.

Leaning forward to look at her GPS, her eyes momentarily distracted from the road, she saw that there was a rest stop coming up within the next mile. Sighing with relief she shifted her eyes back to the road just in time to see an enormous dark shape hurtling in front of her car. It was about 50 metres in front of her but she was gaining on it quickly and would be on it within a few seconds. Strangely, even at that moment of panic, she felt her stomach twist in pain, a strange, wrenching feeling shot through her and she gasped at the intensity.

Instincts took over, her need to swerve and avoid hitting whatever the shape was flooded her brain while her common sense screamed at her to brake. Swerving became the winner in the battle of what to do and she veered sharply to the right, the car nearly tipping to the left as the sudden movement shook the vehicle. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white under the strain. Kalika howled in pain as the sudden swerve caused her to smash bodily into the door frame.

"Shit, shit, shit, shift you fucking thing…!" Ali snarled at the car as she struggled to change gears, the crunching sound that the gear lever made as she forced it startled her and she glanced down to see that she was locked in 5th gear as the car hurtled towards the oaks. Yanking her head up just in time Ali saw that there was no time to even scream as the car went hurtling through what she mused was the only gap in the thick confines of the woods and down a steep slope. Panicking now she slammed her foot on the brake, pressing it all the way to the floor whilst simultaneously pulling on the handbrake. It was a dangerous manoeuvre that her ex-boyfriend had taught her to use only in the most grave of emergencies.

Unfortunately, even though her car ran beautifully her brakes had started acting up over the past few months. She had planned to have them checked, and, if need be, replaced but with the planning of the trip taking precedence she hadn't had the chance to do anything about it. The hand brake was jammed and she couldn't pull it even an inch, she knew that she would need both hands but she couldn't sacrifice her grip on the steering wheel. She was going to have to either swerve again or risk yanking the handbrake up with both hands.

Gravity was now also a factor as she was heading downhill although thankfully not as steeply as before she noticed but she was still heading there quickly. A quick check of her speedo showed her speed at 55mph, more than enough to make a big smash into something. That wasn't the only thing that she noticed though. Looming ahead of her in the darkness was a lone oak tree and one that was at least three times the width of any that she had seen beside the road. Her car was heading straight for it.

Kalika was howling loudly beside her, the seat was wet with urine, Kalika had obviously not been able to hold in her own growing panic. The acrid smell of the animals urine stung her nostrils but she had no time to pay any heed to it.

Panic was rising in her chest, her mind felt numb with shock and she still had that terrible wrenching pain in her stomach. Realizing that she had maybe ten seconds before she ploughed into the forbidding looking tree she knew what she had to do. Setting her teeth she slammed on the footbrake once more whilst simultaneously removing her hands from the steering wheel and wrenching the handbrake up with all her strength. Grimacing she felt the car slow maybe a fraction before, with all the force of a bullet from a gun, the car slammed into the tree. The last thing she felt was a sudden smack in her face as something solid slammed into it. Blissfully blackness enveloped her, cutting off any sounds and wrapping around her completely.

Outside the car the forest seemed to reverberate from the cars collisions with the mighty oak. Everything was deadly quiet apart from the growl of the cars engine before, after a few moments, that too died and left utter silence. After a few moments of stillness the forest sounds returned, the birds tweeting and the sounds of crickets returning as if nothing had interrupted them.

Inside the car everything was very, very still and very, very quiet.

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Blackness. Pain. Chirping and rustling. Ali was unsure of where she was. Her head ached, her shoulders were twisted awkwardly and her face was smashed up against something hard and unmoving. She felt something warm and sticky trickling down the right side of her face. Utter blackness still swamped her, wrapped around her so fully that she wasn't even sure if she had her eyes open or not. Slowly, carefully, she tried to open her eyes. She blinked once, seeing fuzzy objects in front of her. Noise. She could hear a soft whimpering. It took her a few moments to realise that it was her making the noise. Squeezing her eyes shut she took a deep breath before opening them again. This time everything was clear. She could see the interior of her car, Kalika sitting beside her, her head cocked too the side as she eyed her owner with an almost human expression of worry. She leaned forward and gently nudged her owner. Ali smiled lightly, her pet was almost too human for her own good.

Groaning she raised her shoulders slowly and braced herself for the onslaught of pain. There was none which surprised her, apart from the throb of her head. Moving at a snails pace she raised her hands to the steering wheel and slowly, so slowly, pushed herself back. Panting at the effort she collapsed back in her seat, her chest heaving from the effort. Raising one hand to the rear-view mirror she adjusted it so she could examine the injury. Lifting her right hand to her head she felt tenderly at the wound above her right eyebrow as she looked in the mirror. A 3 inch laceration seemed to have opened above her eyebrow, close to the hairline. Blood was trickling slowly from the wound but it wasn't gushing, something that she was thankful for. She couldn't tell how long she had been unconscious for but she thought that it couldn't have been too long. Glancing at her dashboard she saw that her GPS had turned off. Luckily her watch was still working, she thought as she glanced at it. It read just after 11am. She had been unconscious for an hour. Groaning she looked at her wound in the mirror again and grimaced. It was nipping something rotten but it wasn't very painful, the original aching had disappeared quite quickly. Sighing she glanced out her windscreen and saw that the oak tree had caved in the entire front of her car as easily as if it had been made of paper. Groaning again she pinched the bridge of her nose.

She couldn't have picked a more beautiful place to crash though, she mused thoughtfully as she gazed around her. The oak tree was batched in a beautiful light, the sun streaming down on it fully, illuminating the front of the dented car.

Something wasn't right, she thought and frowned. "_What is wrong with this picture?_" she wondered as she opened her eyes fully and surveyed the scene in front of her.

That was when it hit her.

Sunlight? What the hell? When she had been hurtling down the hill the first, the most obvious thing that she had noticed, apart from the tree of course, had been the utter lack of daylight. The forest had been almost pitch black, no trace of any light, however minimal, had been available. Jumping up quickly she practically wrenched her seatbelt off and, fumbling with the door handle, she stumbled out of the vehicle. Her mouth was agape as she looked around her surroundings.

Sunlight. Pure, unclouded and radiant sunlight streamed down on her from above. The tree was bathed in it beautifully as she had noticed before. All around her, before she had crashed, had been dense wooded forest. There was no trace of that now. The tree she stood beside seemed to be the only one in an almost completely empty part of land. The grass beneath her feet was a vibrant green in the sunshine, the air was stiflingly hot and she felt herself begin to perspire lightly. There was no trace of the wooded area that she had crashed into barely an hour ago. All around her the grass sped off in every direction, over hills and gulley's, swirling prettily in the light breeze.

"No…that-that's…impossible…" Ali felt a choking cough rising in her throat and she sank down onto the surprisingly cool grass and tried to catch her breath. She knew that she was having a panic attack and she had to calm herself down.

"K-kali…help…me. Please!" She choked the words out, her breath coming too quickly in shallow pants. Kalika was beside her in an instant, sitting protectively beside her and allowing her owner to bury her face in the soft, thick fur of her neck. The oxygen in her throat felt like it was going to rip her apart, her chest was heaving painfully. She knew that she had to calm down. "_Deep breaths Ali," _she thought to herself, "D_eep, deep, calm breaths." _

After a few minutes she felt her breathing become more regular. Taking deep breaths she finally felt her heart rate return to normal. Hugging her pet gratefully she staggered to her feet. She had been having panic attacks since she was 18 and Kalika had proven herself to be more than just a pet. Her safe and protective aura gave Ali a sense of comfort and this helped her to calm down when she had an attack. Patting her dog gratefully on the head she pulled herself to her feet and headed to the car. Reaching inside she grabbed her GPS and examined it.

Fiddling with the switches she sighed in relief when, after a few moments holding her breath, the screen flashed back on and the familiar logo and welcoming tune greeted her. Tapping at the screen she selected "Current Location". The screen flashed the egg timer at her before the familiar voice informed her of her location.

"_Error. Cannot access current location. Please input coordinates or switch off and try again." _Ali frowned at the GPS.

"What the hell do you mean "_Cannot access current location?" _It's here!" She stamped on the ground impatiently, as if asserting her point. "_I_ can access the location so why can't you?" Sighing she re-booted the device, praying silently that this time it worked and she could find out where the hell she was. Choosing "Current Location" again she hoped silently that this time the machine would work.

"_Error. The location you are in does not exist. Please consult your dealer."_ Ali felt her mouth go dry at the statement. The location she was in didn't exist? What the hell did that mean? Clearly it existed as she was standing in it, well, on it. Was it an error in the GPS? Impossible, she had had it updated with the latest maps before she had set off on her journey. Switching off the device she hurled it angrily into the car and felt no comfort when she heard it smash against the floor. "_Shit_," she thought angrily, "_There goes 250 quid down the drain_." Sighing deeply she climbed into the car and sank down onto her seat. "_What the hell did it mean_," she thought to herself? She had crashed into the tree in one area and lost consciousness and then when she had woken up it seemed that she had somehow, mysteriously moved along with the car and tree to a completely different part of land. It didn't make any sense at all. Her head was now beginning to throb and she was certain that she was concussed. There was a slight feeling of nausea creeping up on her and she was beginning to feel slightly light headed.

One thing was certain, she couldn't just hang around and expect someone to turn up. The place looked deserted and she had no idea what way to go to look for help. Wrinkling her nose she realised that the car seat was still drenched in her dogs piss. Groaning she hoisted herself up out of the seat and out of the car, taking her time so that she wouldn't jar herself and cause any more pain to her already tender head. Stretching lightly she waited for any other pain to flare up over her body. Bracing herself she waited for a moment before sighing in relief. No other pains had flared up. She knew that she was lucky, she mused as she walked around to the front of the car to survey the damage, the fact that she was a bit more toned than other people meant that she could take more hits and feel less pain.

Groaning loudly in dismay as she eyed the damage to the car she felt relief that she hadn't been killed and also gratitude to the old car for basically saving her life. The front of the car was crumpled but not as badly as she had first thought. True, it was bad, but not nearly as much as a write off as she thought that it might have been. The fact that the seat belt was so snug had also probably stopped her from flying through the windscreen and into the huge and, she had to admit, rather intimidating looking tree.

Squinting at it she marvelled at just _how _huge the damn thing was. Admittedly it wasn't as intimidating now that she was standing beside it but when she was rushing head on at 55mph it had seemed terrifying. Reaching out to the broad trunk she placed her hand gently against it. The bark was dry and rough under her skin, the sun having warmed it as it stood there. The colours were incredible, browns, greens and ochre's all swirling together up and down the bark. Rubbing the trunk almost fondly she sighed, it hadn't been the trees fault, it couldn't help where it grew. Strangely enough she felt almost guilty for mowing into it. It was a beautiful tree. She also hoped that she hadn't damaged it too badly.

She was hopeful though that when the car was eventually pulled away from the tree the trunk would have little to no damage on it. The front of her car had an accordion shaped wedge in it but it wasn't brutal enough to write it off. Maybe it would still work? Heading for the drivers door she pulled herself into her seat and tried the ignition.

"Come on baby, you can do it! Start for me…please?" The car's engine turned over and over but made no attempt to sputter to life. Growling in frustration she yanked the keys out and angrily thrust them into her jeans pocket. Ok, so, the car was definitely _not_ responding so there was no way of her driving around wherever she was. That left only one option: walking. She frowned, she wasn't averse to walking, hell, living in Scotland she had pretty much walked everywhere apart from when the distance needing to be covered was more than ten miles. The problem was that living in Scotland she had _always_ known where she was going. Here, she didn't. She had no idea where she was other than it was stiflingly hot and she appeared to be stranded. In the distance, about a half a mile away she could just make out what appeared to be tracks. They led off into the distance, going nowhere but along seemingly empty roads.

Sighing she weighed her options up in her mind: Stay put and risk no-one finding you, _ever,_ or try to find someone to help you? The latter was easily the more sensible option and, ok, there was a risk that she would end up getting lost but if she was able to find someone, _anyone_, then that was better than nothing. Glancing at Kalika she smiled when she saw the dog watching her with a, what could only be described as, bemused look on her face.

"Guess what Kali, we're going for a walk. Try to find out where the hell we are. You game?" She laughed when Kalika barked approvingly. Sighing again she reached for the glove compartment and pulled out a cloth before proceeding to wipe up her animals mess.

After she had finished she rolled up the windows of the vehicle and got out, shutting and locking the drivers door behind her before wandering around to lock the passenger door. She was wondering what she should take with her. Would she need any sort of protection? The land surrounding her didn't look dangerous but she knew from experience that looks could be very deceiving. Unlocking the boot door she rummaged around in her kit bag before finding what she was looking for.

Smiling grimly she clipped it to the waistband of her shorts, making sure that it was facing in so that only the grip was seen. Closing the boot door she locked it securely. Straightening out her oversize shirt she unbuttoned the bottom buttons and tied it around her midriff, the last few inches of her tattoo just peeking out on her right side. Patting her hands over her pockets she checked to make sure that she had what she needed. Her money and mobile phone was in her left front pocket, her keys in her right front and her protection securely fastened in the back. Setting herself determinedly she looked at Kalika who was seated directly in front of her.

"So what'dya say we blow this joint baby?" Kalika nodded in response and Ali smiled, buoyed by her pets confidence. "You know, I hate to sound all Dorothy but I've got this wicked feeling, Toto, that we're _definitely_ not in Kansas any more!" Kalika whined in agreement before running off into the field, straight down the slight slope, her fur blowing like the grass in the breeze. Ali smiled and set off after her pet, confident enough to trust her animals judgement. She too often shied away from adventure but not today, today she decided to go for it. After all what kind of trouble could she end up getting into?

What could possibly go wrong?

She had no idea just what kind of trouble was waiting for her.

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A/N: Ok so that's the first chapter, I hope you all liked it and will please leave me a review. So easy to do, just click that little link, type a few sentences, (Hopefully positive!) and then bingo! Happy me! Seriously, I hope you enjoy this story and give it a chance. If you don't like it then that's fine, it's ok to not like everything. Any glaring errors then please let me know. Thanks.


	2. Threatening Behavior

**Disclaimers: I do not own any of the original characters from The Patriot. Ali and all the other characters that you don't recognize are mine.**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews people. Glad you're giving this story a chance. Hope you keep reading. Please review, makes me feel good when you do!**

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Chapter Two: Threatening behaviour will get you nowhere!

It felt like she had been walking for days. The heat was scorching, pounding down on her relentlessly as she pushed herself on the dusty, hard roads. The sun was merciless in the cloudless sky and she relished every small breeze that was blown her way. She had been stumbling along almost blindly for the past hour or so and she was starting to feel exhausted. Even hiking back home on the Munroe's didn't compare to this. The ground was hard and rough under her feet and her boots were beginning to rub her ankles. Occasionally, the dirt road resorted back to cool, waving grass before going back to dirty and hard mud. Her feet were really getting a workout as well as the rest of her.

Kalika had run on ahead of her, barking occasionally when, excitedly, she came across a new creature to sniff at or another cool patch of long grass to run through. Clearly the predicament of the unknown place didn't seem to be dampening her spirits. Ali smiled as she watched her dog startle and chase a cloud of small, black birds, barking and leaping about happily. At least the crazy situation they were in wasn't hindering her pet.

Checking her watch she saw that she had been walking for over an hour and she still had absolutely no idea where she was. She hadn't seen any signs or road markings, no farms or houses. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The place had, wherever it was, a completely deserted feel to it, almost as if a war was going on and everyone had abandoned it. She knew that there had to be people about somewhere, she just didn't know where. She had been picking up random stones and rocks as she had been walking, attracted to the colour and texture of them. Shoving them in her shorts pockets she had started humming under her breath as she glanced around the ground for more stones and colours She didn't know if they would be useful or come in handy but she just decided to keep them.

Sweat was trickling down her forehead, stinging the cut above her eyebrow and running off her chin. Rubbing her arm across her forehead she winced in pain as her sleeve dragged across the wound and cursed. The heat was horrible, so dense and thick and with no sign of abating. Her watch read just after noon but she had no idea if that time even applied to wherever she was. She assumed it did as, when she glanced at the sun, she saw that it was at the highest point of the sky, from what she could tell.

Suddenly she heard Kalika barking. Looking up she saw her at least two hundred yards away on the top of a small hill, her head lowered as she sniffed at whatever it was that had caught her attention. Jogging over to her she immediately saw what she had been barking at. At her feet, where Kalika was sniffing and pawing at, she saw them: hoof prints, obviously from a horse. Crouching down she ran her fingers over the tracks. They were fresh, made quite recently as the sun hadn't dried them out yet. Looking over the rest of the flat, trodden ground, she was crouching on, she saw more, dozens more. They were leading off in the direction that she was heading. Mentally she thanked whomever owned the horses, if she could find them and find out where she was and what was going on then maybe they could help her.

Kalika whined suddenly. At first Ali didn't hear her, she was too engrossed in thinking about what she was going to do next. She could follow the tracks and hopefully get help but she didn't know how far they led. _"Oh well it just means a bit more walking, that's all." _Kalika's whining was getting louder and she snapped her glance back up to her to see what was wrong.

"Kali baby what is it?" Kalika growled and hunched down, her body going into defensive mode so as to protect herself and her owner. Suddenly though, she heard what it was that had antagonized her dog: Horses. Dozens of them. They were quite a bit away from them, about five hundred yards but they were gaining quickly. That was when she realised that they were _mounted_ horses. Each and every one of the roughly two dozen animals had a man on it's back each one wearing a cardinal red jacket and tall helmet. And each and every one of them was heading straight for them. Panic was trying to set into her mind but she was willing it not too. She didn't know what to do. Who were they? She had no clue. It looked like some sort of re-enactment but at the same moment she thought that she was wrong. They way they looked and they way that they were charging straight for her made her realize that this was too authentic for a re-enactment. This was the real thing.

Panic set into her mind and she whimpered slightly, fear coursing through her veins as she backed away down the hill. These guys did _not_ look friendly, whoever they were. Realizing that she had only two options, fight or run she chose what _she_ deemed the sensible choice: she ran.

"KALI RUN!" She screamed at her dog. Turning quickly and jumping down the small slope she set off at a rapid pace, Kalika beside her, her fur rippling back behind her as similar as her owners brown hair streaming behind her head as they ran, kicking up dust and mud as they did. Pushing herself harder she felt her chest burning, her lungs almost bursting as she drew in great lungfuls of air as she ran.

"C'mon, fucking run you stupid bitch"! She growled at herself as she pounded across the ground. She knew that she had waited too long on the hill before starting running. She could hear the sounds of the horses behind her, the sound of their hooves pounding against the hard, un-giving ground sounded like thunder. She could feel sweat running down her face and back, her throat was burning and her legs were screaming at her to stop. She heard several male voices behind her, each one yelling either at her or each other, her mind was too convoluted to make sense of exactly what they were saying or to whom.

For a moment she was convinced that she'd heard one of the voices say "Get her!" but her brain was too fried too make much sense of it. She didn't even dare turn around too see how close they were to her. She didn't need to though, as a tawny animal went striding past her at a stunning pace. She nearly fell on her butt at this and it was only her mind yelling at her to keep moving that she did.

"_Please God, or whoever's out there, help me, don't let them get me. Get me out of here!"_ Her mind was screaming at her when at last, oh god, at last she saw her saviour ahead of her: a huge tree, it's lower branches hanging down just low enough for her to jump up and grab and pull herself up. As she was thinking this she reached the tree, kicking up from the hard ground and snaring the lowest branch in her shaking hands. Bracing her feet against the trunk she gritted her teeth against the wrenching pain in her upper arms and hauled herself up and into the densely packed branches, the twigs and rough branches scratching at her arms, legs and face. Looking down for Kalika, she saw her on the ground directly below the trunk, prowling the ground, her demeanour one of hostility and protectiveness to Ali. Gasping at the burning in her lungs she reached up again and grabbed at the next set of branches, pulling herself deeper into the tree. She didn't stop until she was deep into the tree, bracing herself against the branches as she caught her breath. Below her she could hear voices arguing and discussing what to do next.

"_Jesus, never again, never, ever, ever, fucking, EVER AGAIN!" _Her muscles were screaming at her as she panted, trying to catch her breath as her chest heaved and she felt the sweat continue to run down her face, stinging her cuts and scratches. Rubbing her hand against her face, avoiding the gash on her forehead, she removed most of the sweat and blood from her face. She knew that she had to look like hell, her hair was a tangled, sweaty mess, her shirt was soaked in sweat and blood and her arms, legs and face stung and itched from the cuts and scratches. Down below she could hear the sounds of the men and the horses. Closing her eyes and leaning back against the branches again she tried to calm down. "_Well," _she mused, "_at least I found someone! Or several by the looks of things."_

"I know that she's up there, Bordon, I did see her go in there. The point, I am trying to make to you is to _get her down!"_ A coldly arrogant and well pissed off voice broke through her thoughts and pulled her attention back to the scene below her at the base of the tree.

"Colonel, Sir we- I mean the men we-we're unsure as to _how _to get her down. I don't think any of the men can climb…trees…" She had to bite back a giggle, this guy was completely incompetent. What the hell did he think they were going to do? Jump off the horses and climb the tree after her? They looked capable, that was certain but did they look agile enough to come in after her? No way Jose!

Kalika was growling furiously, that loud, trembling growl was easy enough to hear from where Ali was perched in the thick branches. She was sat back on her haunches, ready to spring at a seconds notice at the command of her owner. Some of the men were backing their horses away from her, looking somewhat wary of the angry animal. The man that she had heard speak, Bordon or whatever his name was, was looking at the enraged animal with what she could only call fear in his eyes.

From where she was sat in the tree she had a good enough view of most of the men, a few of them still partly blocked, including the one with the arrogant voice. She couldn't see him but boy, could she hear him! He was barking orders at the men, his tone of voice was clearly not amused in the slightest at what was going on. In any other time or place she would have found it amusing but she was too anxious and, she had to admit to herself, terrified to find humour in the situation. Apart from the comment about climbing trees, that was amusing. Sighing she mused over what she should do next. Getting out of the tree was going to be difficult, even more so than it was to get in. The men down below her did not look like they were good-time-guys like her friends back home, they looked like hardened soldiers which was what she thought them to be. It was easy enough to tell from the way they were being ordered about by the cold sounding bastard down there plus the uniforms were a also a bit of a dead giveaway.

"_Ok, so what's the best thing to do?" _She thought to herself, biting her lower lip nervously. The best way that she could see was to try to talk her way out of the situation. It probably wouldn't work, these guys didn't look like they would accept her explanation of how she happened to be there and truth be told she had no idea where she was let alone _when_ she was. If this was a re-enactment of some sorts, and she doubted it was, then these guys were playing the parts right down to the nail. "_They were _too_ good_," she thought, "_something is definitely amiss here!" _Ok, so she knew that she had to talk some sense into them, stop them from trying to kill her or whatever and she also had to find out where she was and what the hell they thought they were doing in chasing her down like that! Taking a breath to steady herself she leaned carefully down, trying to find the one who was in charge, the one with the pissed off voice was obviously the leader.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but what the hell is going on? Why did you chase me?" She practically growled the words, she was in no mood to be polite, these men had chased her down on horses for no apparent reason and she was well pissed at them. She had to fight back a smile as she saw looks of shock going across several of the men's faces, clearly they weren't used to be spoken to in such a manner.

"We chased you, madam, because a woman wandering around in the countryside, dressed, and I use that term loosely, as you are and without an escort is clearly up to no good. Remove yourself from the tree _immediately_!" It was the cold sounding bastard, he didn't sound in the least bit amused and she rolled her eyes at the tone in his voice, she had heard threats like that before and wasn't going to be pushed by him, whoever he was.

"Or what? You'll send some of those useless, pathetic morons in after me? I heard them, they can't climb trees, guess I'm safe where I am!" She remarked, stunned at the fact they thought she was up to no good just for walking in the country. And that cheeky comment about the way she was dressed? Bastard, sanctimonious, nasty little shit that he was. She was going to slap the shit out of him for that comment. "You'll just have to either come in and get me yourself or wait until I'm ready to leave, which by the way, won't be for a while so make yourselves comfy, I've got all day." She had to bite her lip on a giggle as she saw several of the men's faces twitch in amusement, especially a tall, handsome man, he had nice eyes and lovely face. Kalika was prowling around the men as she watched, her hackles raised and a low, threatening growl emitting from her throat. Several of the men had backed away from the snarling beast and more of them continued to do so.

"If you don't remove yourself _this moment_ then I will personally get you out. You are under arrest on suspicion of spying for the rebels. If you continue to resist then we will force you out." Ooh this guy was getting on her nerves! Her? A spy? And rebels? What rebels, what the hell was he talking about, where the hell was she? _When_ the hell was she? She had a horrible feeling that this was no longer 2009 and that was crazy! What had happened, had she time travelled back to whenever she was now? Impossible! She shook her head, reaching into her pocket she pulled out the stones she had picked up while she had been walking. Time to teach these guys a lesson, especially Mr Bastard down there. Leaning against one of the branches she took aim and lobbed one of the stones at a rather nasty looking soldier. Crack! The stone made contact with his face and she smiled in glee. Ok so she didn't like to hurt people, normally. These weren't normal circumstances though.

"Agh sir, she hit me! Right in me bloody eye!" Ali giggled, stupid twat. Deserved it. Taking aim again she cracked another one right on the nose and a third in the jaw. Five rocks later and quite a few of the men were howling and groaning in pain and the arrogant sod that had threatened her was yelling at them, shouting orders left and right. She was out of rocks now but she still had her own weapon and she unclipped it from her waistband, unfolding it carefully. It was a small but very sharp knife that her uncle had given to her for protection. It could do a lot of damage if need be but she wasn't intending to use it, it was for threatening only. Peering down carefully she saw the handsome soldier talking to the one she realized was the cold bastard, their backs to her. She couldn't hear what they were saying but it was obviously serious.

This was ridiculous, Wilkins thought, he had joined the Loyalists under the reasoning that by joining the Green Dragoons he would be joining one of the most feared and respected military troops around. Their success rate in battle was second to none and the commander, Colonel Tavington, was deemed as the most brilliant if brutal tactician around. He had been looking forward to the battles, the adventure, the prospect of advancing his own military history. And what did he get? The most feared troop in the British army was being outsmarted and outclassed by a young woman in a tree throwing rocks at them. He could see the humorous side to it but wisely kept that concealed from the Colonel. Right now he was furious and he didn't want to annoy him, he was only newly joined in the troop. He didn't agree with his Colonel's assumption that she was a spy though, she looked nothing like a spy and acted nothing like a rebel. Well, apart from running from them but that was common behaviour from almost everyone, Loyalists and rebels.

"Stop whining and do your duty, get her down _now_!" The Colonel was not pleased, half his men were now nursing small, but well aimed injuries. Two had broken noses and one's eye was swelling up already. "She's only a girl for gods sake! Don't tell me you can't handle one little girl? You call yourself Dragoons? You're not even fit to be in this troop, none of you!" Wilkins was listening to the verbal abuse his fellow soldiers were receiving but he was watching the tree closely, he could see her moving around, just the smallest glimpse of her. She was going to be in a lot of trouble when she did eventually decide to come down. He knew that the best thing to do was to try to reason with her, find out exactly what she was doing and offer her assistance if it was needed. Unfortunately the Colonel looked at things a little differently and he knew that he probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot her out of the tree if need be.

"Sir, if I might suggest something?" He knew that it was a risk but he had to try. The Colonel's icy cold glare met his own questioning one and he continued. "Perhaps if we tried to reason with her, show her that we mean no threat and try to talk her down? It might not work but we can try?" The Colonel's gaze turned thoughtful as he mulled over the option, his eyes taking in the tree and his injured officers before snapping back to him. He had the coldest eyes that he had ever known anyone to have, there never seemed to be any warmth in them and he very much doubted that there ever would be. "_It would take a heart of fire to melt that heart of ice_," he thought, "_and I doubt very much that one exists."_

"Very well, I see no other option at the moment and as you are newly joined here Wilkins I suggest you do it. Besides, I don't think it will do any difference, I don't think reasoning with that girl will do any good but as you say, we can try." He smiled that vicious smile of his, one that sent any other person cold with fear. Nodding he looked back up into the tree, trying to spot her. Catching sight of her in the high branches he moved his horse closer to the tree and to the snarling dog that was stationed exactly beneath her.

"Miss? Excuse me, Miss?" Huh? What the hell was happening? The moaning and groaning that had been happening moments before had stopped and now one of _them_ was attempting to talk to her. Moving carefully she peered through the branches and saw the handsome soldier from earlier on staring up at her. God, was he cute! Even amidst all the chaos she couldn't help but notice how gorgeous he was. "Please, we don't mean any harm to you, if you need help then we can assist you. Just come down and we can help you." "_Yeah right!"_ She thought, and the moment she was down she'd probably be beaten or handcuffed or worse. A shiver went through her, she had watched documentaries about wars and what soldiers got up to with women and prisoners, she'd be damned if she was going to let it happen to her.

"I don't want your help I just want you to FUCK OFF! What the hell were you doing chasing me? I didn't do anything wrong! I was lost and all of a sudden you start riding me down! What the hell? Is that how anyone who gets lost around here is treated? Jesus Christ!" Wilkins sighed, trying to ignore the cursing and blasphemy coming from the rather temperamental female yelling at him from the branches. He was slightly surprised by her accent, it wasn't English or colonial in any way but incredibly Scottish. She was definitely a long way from her home country and he wondered how she had ended up here. For a moment she was silent and he thought that she had finished her berating but no, apparently she wasn't finished yet. "Ok yeah, I do need help but I'd rather take it from a bunch of drunks right now than a bunch of over zealous, under sexed, macho idiots!" Groaning in annoyance she leaned back against the branches.

This so wasn't the way to deal with things but she was truly hacked off now. Below her she could see the soldier who had been talking to her shake his head, obviously disappointed that he had failed to reason with her. She sighed, he seemed nice enough, and he had only tried to reason with her. Biting her lip she wondered if she should have listened to him a bit better, maybe he could help her? Lowering herself down carefully she looked around and immediately regretted it. The soldier she had been speaking to, ok yelling at, was on top of his horse next to another one, the one she knew to be the cold bastard and he had his gun in hand. Gulping she wondered if she would be able to get higher up before he got a shot off.

"Well that did absolutely nothing did it Wilkins? I told you she couldn't be reasoned with. Not in a conventional sense any way." Wilkins shook his head, annoyed that he had failed. His attention was grabbed though by the Colonel removing his pistol from its holster and making sure it was loaded. He frowned, what was he going to do? His gaze was rooted on the tree and the branch that she was currently inhabiting.

She had dropped down to see better and they were able to get a good look at her. The first thing he noticed were her eyes, a bright, almost impossibly bright blue, brighter than the Colonel's, sky blue and very big. Right now they were widened in fear as she saw that the Colonel had his pistol in hand. For the briefest of moments he thought that he saw him falter, his hand lower infinitesimally as he saw her but he must have imagined it. She was dressed most unusually, her hair was short and hanging around her face in messy waves and she had blood trickling down her face from a nasty looking gash on her forehead.

"You will remove yourself from the tree _immediately_ or I _will_ shoot you out! Make your decision _swiftly_!" Her eyes widened in shock and she hauled herself back up onto the higher branches and was concealed from view. Wilkins heard the Colonel cursing as they tried to follow her movements, falling miserably as the branches were too thick. "Get out now! If you don't then we will fire on you!" Wilkins was stunned by this, she had done no harm, well, not to them, but she didn't deserve to get shot.

"Listen, threatening behaviour will get you nowhere so back off and try something else ok?" Ali was scared, her heart hammering in her chest as she realized that he was serious. She wasn't going to chicken out though, they would have to shoot her out if that was what was needed. She could hear the cold bastard cursing and had to stifle a giggle, it was worth it, shame he was such a hottie though. He was fairly gorgeous, nice eyes, nice face, shame about the personality, it was colder than an iceberg.

"Very well, you leave me no choice. If you don't remove yourself from the tree in the next ten seconds then I will shoot your dog." What? What a bastard! What the hell had Kalika done to deserve this, she was only trying to protect her mistress? "One…two…three." Jesus he was serious. Lowering herself back down she saw that he had his pistol pointed at a furious Kalika who was growling for all she was worth. Looking around she knew that she had to do something. As she spied an easy target she knew what she had to do.

"Four…five…six…seven…" Just as he had reached seven something unbelievable happened. They watched in complete shock and amazement as the scene unfolded before them.

She had appeared from nowhere, swinging down off the branch she had been perched on and she aimed a spectacular kick at one of the younger Lieutenants circling the base of the tree, knocking him over as she kicked him squarely in the jaw.

Crying out in pain he lost his grip on his reins and fell from his horse, the girl taking advantage and grabbing his pistol from his hands as he fell. Taking position in the saddle she turned the horse around and held the pistol out straight, aimed directly at the Colonel. The whole incident had taken barely ten seconds and it was clear that she had the upper hand now. In her right hand she held the fallen soldiers pistol, in her left she held the reins and a small, lethal looking knife. Moving the animal over to them, she held the pistol perfectly steady, not a tremor in her hands as she kept it raised.

"Ok, so you've had your fun, now drop it." Her voice was like ice, cold and deadly serious as she kept aim at the Colonel who still had his own pistol aimed at her dog. Whistling sharply Kalika took off, she was gone before anyone could blink. The Colonel looked furious but there was another look mixed in with the rage that Wilkins was having a hard time placing. Respect? Amusement? He didn't know which.

"Well at least you're out of the tree, some good can come of threats." Crap! Why oh why did he have to have such a sexy voice? Even when he was threatening her it sounded great! He had a wicked, mocking smile on his handsome features and it only highlighted how good looking he was. His voice, it was almost a purr, and he was unbelievably hot, the uniform only adding to how sexy he was! "_Focus Ali," _she thought, "_he threatened to shoot you and Kalika. This is not the time to be having sexy thoughts!"_

"Yeah I'm out the tree, good for me. Shame that you have to stoop to threatening animals to get things done." His mocking smile vanished instantly replaced by a look of cold fury. He was clearly very pissed off and she knew that she shouldn't antagonize him but she couldn't seem to help herself. "Now, pretty eyes, drop the gun before I put a bullet straight between them!" Behind her and all around them the rest of the troop all had their pistols raised and pointed directly at her but she paid them no heed, to focused was she on her intended target.

She could feel the warmth of her blood dripping down the side of her face and a wooziness was creeping up on her. Damn! Not now, not here, just when she knew that she had the upper hand. The situation was incredibly tense, neither of them willing to back down. She wasn't about to let him win just as she knew he didn't want her to either. Thankfully, finally, he did as she asked and dropped the gun onto the ground. "Now, tell the rest of your boys to do the same. Do it!" Never taking his eyes off her he did as she bid him, Wilkins following the orders as well and dropping his own pistol to the ground. The Colonel had to admit it, he was impressed, she was a lot tougher than she looked even though she was trembling slightly, her eyes burning with pain as the wound on her head was obviously hurting her. She was wearing quite remarkable clothing, very…revealing, she had on no dress or hat and her hair was loose and wild, stopping at her shoulders. Her legs, he wasn't used to seeing a woman's legs, not like that at least. They were long and bare and very lovely, very toned and lightly tanned. He was amused to see a faint blush spreading over her cheeks as he slowly looked her up and down, taking in every inch of her; her wild hair, her unbuttoned shirt, the slight glimpse of her bare abdomen and those long, luscious legs of hers. Clearly she didn't enjoy having him look at her in such a way but that wasn't going to stop him.

"Ok, now, I'm going to leave, right now and you are _not_ going to follow me, understand? I've had a hell of a day so far and I really don't need you guys making it any worse by following me so back off! I see any of you behind me then I _will _shoot you, I don't care if you shoot back. Just leave me alone!" Her voice was strained, the pain from the wound she had obviously worsening. He could see now that she was going to pass out, within the next few minutes at least, her eyes were drooping shut and her breathing was shallower as she struggled to keep the gun raised. "_Let her go, she'll be unconscious in a matter of minutes and a lot easier to handle then,"_ he thought, _"She won't last much __longer."_

"Fine. Leave. We won't follow you, I give you my word." She snorted at this statement in disbelief but nodded slightly as she made to leave, the gun still raised and pointed at him. He could see Wilkins watching her intently out the corner of his eye, a questioning look on his face. What now? The man was a useful asset to the troop but his continual questions was beginning to annoy him.

"Fine. Don't follow me! Kalika?" She muttered and within a few moment her dog was beside her, growling furiously at them all, standing guard while she left, finally dropping her arm and taking the reins in both hands. Spurring the horse on she whistled again sharply and the dog went running off after it's mistress, casting a furious glare back before it ran off.

"Sir? Are we going to follow her or let her go?" He rolled his eyes in frustration, there it was, another question. Could that man refrain from any questioning for maybe a day? No, it seemed unlikely. As inept and frustrating as Bordon could be, he was grateful that he could at least refrain from asking stupid questions.

"No, Wilkins, not yet. Give it a few more minutes and then…" He let the sentence trail off as in the distance he saw what he had expected to happen had. "Now Wilkins, we can get her now. Pick up your weapons and move quickly." He barked the order to the men and several dismounted, picking up their fallen weapons and their comrades, handing them back and mounting up again. The soldier that she had kicked off the horse passed his and Wilkins pistols back and they made their way quickly to the scene.

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"_Well that went a bit better," _she thought as she rode off, trotting carefully, she didn't want the horse to jar her any more than necessary. She'd had to get away, quickly, if only to stop that bastard looking at her in that lascivious way. The way he had been looking at her, running his eyes up and down her like she was a much desired present that he wanted to unwrap. "_No fucking way he's getting to unwrap me," _she thought to herself, "_I'd rather die first than let him touch me." _She felt horribly nauseous, her head was pounding and a strange cloudy sensation was covering her eyes. Oh crap, she was going to pass out. She could tell from the blackness that was creeping up over her, the corners of her eyes were rapidly filling and she was finding it hard to balance. She had no time to react as she pitched to the left, her hands slackening and letting go of the reins, knife and gun. Blackness covered her completely and she was unconscious before she hit the ground.

That damn dog was standing guard over the prone body of it's mistress, growling and snarling angrily as they arrived. He should have shot the bloody thing already but, he didn't know what had stopped him, he had simply thought that it would have been wrong to do so. "_For gods sake, it's a bloody dog, of no consequence to you,"_ he thought but still he knew that it would be wrong. And it was a spectacularly beautiful animal, more wolf than dog, it had almost pure silver eyes and was a gorgeous white and silver colour all over, it's fur rich and thick.

"Sir, any idea as to how to get past it? It's not the friendliest animal I've ever encountered and I dare say it'll try to take a limb if we do anything rash!" Bordon was right, even if he was stating the obvious. The animal was no fool and it's main goal was protecting it's owner which it was doing admirably right now.

"We have to gain it's trust, my sister has a dog that has a nature very similar to this and you have to show it respect, show it that you're not afraid of it." Wilkins was dismounting as he said this, looking towards him for approval which he received via a curt nod. He had to see this, see if Wilkins was able to gain the animals trust. Approaching it very slowly Wilkins kept his head down, his eyes averted so as not to seem threatening. "Here, come here, it's ok, we're not going to hurt you." Wilkins had his hand stretched out and for a moment he thought that the dog would take a bite out of it. It was still growling albeit not as loudly as before. Sniffing at the hand offered to it after a moment it cocked it's head, looking at the new arrival in puzzlement before walking over to Wilkins and allowing him to pet it. He ruffled the dogs head affectionately causing Tavington to roll his eyes, good god what was he, a child? They had more serious matters to attend to.

"Thank you Wilkins, now if you could tie the damn thing up and we can get on with the more important matter, namely finding out who she is?" Wilkins looked embarrassed, the dog was panting happily besides it's new friend. Dismounting he walked over to the prone figure lying in the grass and knelt beside her. Her hair was covering her face as she lay unconscious, her breathing slow and deep, she could have quite easily been asleep but he knew better. Reaching out he stroked the hair away from her face, seeing the nasty looking wound on her forehead. The bleeding had stopped but it obviously needed medical attention, she would not have passed out otherwise.

He looked at her closely. She was quite young and he was finding it hard to place exactly how old she was but he guessed early twenties. Her face had a look of weariness to it but he knew that to be from the injury she had sustained and probably from the stress of the situation she had found herself in with them. She was beautiful, that was easy to see, her face was sweet without seeming too saccharine sweet, her skin very lightly tanned. Her hair was a rich shade of brown, chestnut coloured and was shockingly short, reaching just to her shoulders. He couldn't remember any other woman he had seen with hair that short. She had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks and the most adorable little pout of a mouth, her lower lip was fuller than her top and they were very slightly parted as she lay there seemingly asleep. Even though he could still feel the anger at her earlier threat to shoot him he couldn't help but feel some sweep of emotion go through him as he watched her laying there on the ground. What was it he felt? Lust? Desire? Or something deeper? He didn't know. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, but he felt confused. What had she done to him, this bewitching little beauty? Those lips, he would defy any man not to want to kiss her, to feel those soft looking lips themselves and discover just _how_ soft they were.

_"This is ridiculous," _he thought to himself, "_You don't even know the girl and here you are thinking about kissing her? Have you lost your mind man? Focus on your duty, the girl is obviously a spy and should be taken to the Fort for questioning. You shouldn't be mooning around like a love struck boy thinking things that will never be!" _He knew the second that he had thought she was a spy that he was wrong. She looked nothing like a spy and didn't seem to know what exactly was going on. He had to take her back to the Fort though, she needed to see the doctor and she had to be questioned fully when she awoke.

"Sir shall I take her on my horse? It might be best, I can handle her…" Turning back he cut Wilkins off with a glare. He was silent, not daring to finish his sentence as he watched the Colonel pick the prone girl up, noticing that he carried her almost tenderly. The dog was watching all this silently, a rope having been used to tie her to Wilkins saddle.

"Dawson some help here please." The young Lieutenant whom had been kicked off his horse by her scurried over to help him, his chin already blackening up from her kick. He took hold of her carefully as the Colonel mounted his horse before helping him pull her up onto the saddle. She was completely limp and unresponsive the whole time they positioned her and she ended up almost side saddle, her torso and head lying against the Colonel's chest while her legs dangled over the side. The Lieutenant had to bite back a smirk at the sight of his fearsome commander cradling the young woman against his body. Turning an icy glare on him that informed him that he knew exactly what he was thinking he froze, terrified that he was going to be reprimanded. "Thank you Dawson, if you could collect her things and keep them safe that will be all. Back to Fort, now!" He barked the order and they set off immediately, Dawson and Wilkins mounting up and following the troop. Kalika set off at a brisk trot to match the horses pace.

_"Why did I insist on taking her? I could have quite easily let Wilkins do it, he was just as capable," _he mused to himself. She weighed nearly nothing though, she was a lot lighter than he had expected her to be. She wasn't a burden to him but he was still angry at her threats, she had been rude and insulting and wilful! "_Now William, is she really so different from you? You did not give her the warmest of welcomes now did you?"_ He frowned, he had threatened to shoot her and her dog, he had chased her across the fields simply because she was on her own and dressed unusually and he had been rude to her and he had no reason for any of it. Damn it, why had he acted that way to her? Looking at her now it was clear that she couldn't hurt a fly, even though she did have an excellent kick on her. Her threatening behaviour was explainable as retaliation. He had threatened her so she in turn had threatened back. It was simple really, he had just let it get out of hand. Truth be told he had _wanted_ to take her, he felt a strange possessiveness to her and he didn't want any of the other men to touch her.

She was, without a doubt, the single most infuriatingly stubborn woman he had ever met and that included his sister, who was so single minded he was amazed that she had ever been able to get a husband. This girl that he now had in his arms was just like her: wilful, unrepentant, aggressive and shameless although he'd be damned if her ever told his sister that he thought that of her. She was also incredibly strong, resilient, tough and forceful. When he had seen her on the top of the hill with her dog he had been immediately suspicious of her, especially of her clothing, or apparent lack of it. What woman went out dressed in such things? Clearly one of dubious morals, the camp whores wore more clothes than she did and they were whores. This girl was clearly not, even if her clothing was far too revealing for any decent lady to wear.

Groaning in her sleep, she shifted slightly and a sweet, almost melancholy sigh escaped her lips as she rested against him. He could smell the faintest scent of her hair, even under the blood, sweat and dirt. Lemons, she smelled of lemons, clean and fresh even covered in dirt. It was a pleasing scent, one that suited her. "_What will she tell us when she wakes up? Will she explain what she was doing in the fields?" _he wondered. One thing he knew for sure was that he was going to find out exactly who she was. He wanted to, she had piqued his interest and he wasn't going to stop until he found out all he could about her.

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A/N: Ok so this was up here a few days ago but I had some more to add to it after re-reading it. Might still do some more editing, not 100% happy with it but I'll get there in the end. Please review but be nice. Any comments or suggestions let me know, I have at least 75% of the story planned out in chapter gist's but I welcome ideas and believe me I'll be looking for some as the story goes on. Thanks.


	3. Not a Dream

**Disclaimers: I do not own any of the original characters from The Patriot. Ali and all the other characters that you don't recognize are mine.**

**A/N: Ok so a big thanks to the reviews, ta much! Hope you keep reading, enjoying and reviewing. Sorry it took so long to update, was struck earlier than I expected by the dreaded writers block. Annoying! It's going better now though and sorry but this is a bit of a longer chapter. I had a lot to put in and it was going to be even longer but I decided to spare you all eye and brain ache and split it. See I think of you guys, I really do!**

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Chapter Three: It's really not a dream, is it?

It was peaceful in her head, nothing was stirring, her mind was a white blank page, there were no marks or sounds, nothing to hurt her or cause her alarm or fear. She was at peace, resting. A cool breeze was washing over her face though, lightly ghosting over her cheeks. It was so soft that she thought for a moment that she was imagining it as it tried to bring her back to consciousness. She tried to fight it, it was warmer in her mind, safer, she couldn't be hurt here but as she thought it her thoughts changed suddenly_. _Sounds in the background of her mind. _A screeching crash, metal against wood, a smacking noise as her forehead hit the steering wheel of her tank like car. _

She was tossing and turning in her sleep now, fighting the images that were drowning her out of her own mind, her own sanity. _Kalika whining as she was thrown around the car interior, her own panicked cries, the feel of a wrenching, stabbing pain in her gut. Blackness. Silence. Utter blackness and stillness in the air. No way to see as she was locked in darkness. Bright light when she finally awoke, the sun belting down on her and Kalika as they discovered what had happened to them. Panic. Fear. Panic attack and struggle to accept that something weird and terrible had happened to her. Leaving. Walking away to try to find…something, anything. _

_Being found. Being chased. Men and horses running after her, chasing her as she fled for her life, trying to escape them. Trees. Her salvation as she had climbed them, hiding from them. Angry words thrown at her, accusations and threats. She had responded to them as she would have in any situation and fought back, eventually emerging from the tree and as the victor in the fight. Threatening behaviour, from her as well as the man she had threatened before he had let her go. Fear. She had felt fear and something else as he had watched her, sweeping his icy cold eyes over her in a way that made her want to scream out in either disgust…or desire. Undressing her with those arctic cold eyes. _She was thrashing violently in her sleep now, her arms waving rapidly as she tried to almost beat the images away. _Leaving, finally but falling from the horse as blackness had swooped up and claimed her. A feeling of being lifted, muted voices in her head and then …silence. Stillness Where was she?_

"_Where am I?"_ This was the first thought that shot through her mind as soon as her eyes snapped open and she sat up suddenly, wincing in pain as her forehead throbbed. Her arms stung slightly from the scratches she had endured from climbing the tree. She felt a wash of dizziness pass through her and she quickly lay back down again, feeling a sense of relief as she did so. Laying as still as possible she scanned the room she was in, her eyes going over every detail as she stayed where she was, eager not to move again and cause herself any more injury or light-headedness.

She was in a tent, that was clear enough but it was completely unlike any tent that she had ever gone camping in. This tent, for example, did not look like the same, two-man, D.O.E approved, weather safe tents she had used herself when she was a teenager and was camping on Rannoch Moor. This was very much like the old fashioned Girl Guide tents she had seen when she was twelve, the ones that were used as washing up tents. This one was beige and had a high roof, the length of the tent itself was quite big and it really seemed to resemble a marquee more than an actual tent. She seemed to be right in the middle of it and she was resting on a cot like bed, quite high of the ground but wide enough that she knew that she was safe from falling out of it.

Groaning, she rubbed her eyes, knowing that she was in a situation that she was completely unprepared for. She had a sick feeling in her chest, something in the back of her mind was telling her to run, to get out as fast as she could. She didn't know quite what it was that was stopping her though. Something was whispering to her to stay, from the same place in her mind that was telling her to run another was telling her not to. She was very confused and so sleepy, she could put her head back down and drift off again. She knew that she couldn't though, she had too much to deal with right now, there were a lot of questions that needed answering.

The first question was where was Kalika? Usually she would be right by her side no matter what but she wasn't here, there was no trace of her pet in the tent with her. Had she been taken somewhere else? God she hoped not, her animal didn't take to kindly to unfamiliar environments or strange people. However if she was treated kindly and her trust was gained she could be as friendly as a puppy. That was the main problem with Kalika. She was fierce, ferocious and utterly dedicated to Ali but the moment someone showed any kindness to her then she pretty much resorted to the kind of behaviour that a puppy would display, fawning over her new friend, eager to please and disgustingly sweet.

Groaning aloud she rubbed her temples lightly, her head was beginning to throb slightly and she wished that she had some ibuprofen with her to take the edge off. Unfortunately her first aid kit was back in her car and she knew that she would have to suffer through the pain she was enduring right then. "_What am I going to do?" _She thought to herself, her eyes closing as she mulled over her options. She knew that wherever she was she was going to end up meeting someone who would have some tricky questions for her and she knew that she would have even trickier ones for them. The main was where the hell was she? And, the next most important one: _When_ was she?

Sitting up slowly, so as not to jar her head again she peered around the tent carefully. The entrance, or what she could tell to be the entrance but was mainly just a curtain covering the canvas, was at the far end of the tent. Swinging her legs around she jumped down lightly from the bed in a catlike manner before, gracefully yet carefully, slinking her way over to the entrance, moving as slowly as she could, her vision was still a little blurry and she had to blink several times rapidly to clear her fuzzy vision. She had just reached the entrance and was about to pull back the curtain when she heard something. Frowning she leaned closer to the entrance, the curtain still shut and listened carefully. Voices, distinctly male voices and not too far from her. They were definitely heading her way and would be on her in mere moments. Whimpering slightly she turned and dashed back to the bed, leaping in and settling down, pulling the covers back over herself and laying back she shut her eyes, feigning sleep. All this was accomplished within a matter of seconds before the curtain was pulled back and the owners of the voices entered the tent.

Trying to even her breathing out, Ali kept her eyes shut, though not so tight that she might make it to obvious that she was pretending to be asleep. She could feel eyes on her as she lay there, feigning sleep but she focused herself on not opening her eyes. If she was lucky then they would leave her alone and if she was even luckier she would simply fall asleep again and then there would be no need to pretend.

"_Think of something relaxing. A poem, something I know, what used to put me to sleep? What did mum used to read to me?" _She was having trouble remembering, her mother had used to read to her when she was younger and she had read her poems every night to help her sleep. She was trying to remember her favourite and was having trouble in doing so. Grasping at it mentally she was almost giving up when the first few lines sprang into her mind before the rest flooded her subconscious. "_Into my heart an air that kills, from yon far country blows: what are those remembered hills, what spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, the happy highways where I went, and cannot come again."_ Houseman it was, very small and pretty. Her mother had died before she had been able to explain what it meant but she was certain she knew anyway. As she thought it, spoke it gently in her mind, she felt calm, a gentle peace stealing through her limbs and she relaxed.

Whatever happened now would happen. Whatever consequences there were, she would deal with them. And whomever pissed her off would be dealt with. Severely.

* * *

Just before he entered the tent with the other officer, Colonel Tavington thought perhaps that he had heard something, some movement, a soft rustling that had been preceded by a whimper of sorts. Frowning he looked around the large space of the tent as they entered, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that could have made the noise he thought that he had heard. The only thing that he deemed out of the ordinary was the young girl laying in the bed opposite them.

The other officer, Colonel Robbins, was talking to him as they approached the bed she was currently inhabiting but he didn't hear a word that the man was saying to him. His gaze was fixed on her, her lovely face that was marred somewhat by the vicious looking cut on her forehead. It had been cleaned now and there was no longer any blood running down her lovely countenance and ruining it. The abundance of freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks gave her, coupled with her adorable little mouth and nose, a somewhat impish look to her.

He sighed. "_What is wrong with me?" _He questioned himself mentally. This was the second time that he had seen her and the same damn thing had happened, this overwhelming response to her beauty, it was causing him to think impossible things and entertain absurd fantasies. She was a paradox, one moment he was willing to shoot her, even though he knew that it was the most absurd idea he had ever entertained and the next he was imagining her in many rather interesting scenario's, the most enjoyable one involving the use of his own desk for an activity that used up a lot more energy than merely writing. He shook his head, trying to shake away the image that was now lingering in his mind, an image that was going to prove to be a very serious problem for him from now on whenever he saw her. Or his desk.

"…so I have to say, all in all, she is a remarkably lucky young lady. There was no permanent damage done to her head thank heavens, and her scratches will heal quickly. I doubt that there will be any scarring on her forehead and even if there is I'm certain that it will be minimal at best." Colonel Robbins turned his attention back to Colonel Tavington, noting the look on his face as he gazed at the prone girl. His look was one of rapt attention but not to anything that he had said. No, his gaze was too firmly fixed on the young woman in the bed.

He smiled to himself, he was intrigued and amused by what he saw. The rather brutally proclaimed "Butcher" of the Carolina's, the one soldier in all the army that was revered and feared in equal amounts, whose ferociousness in battle was matched nowhere else had apparently been pole-axed by this sweet, harmless looking young lady. She seemed, in all accounts, to be his exact opposite but from what Captain Wilkins had told him, she had a temper and stubbornness that exceeded even the Colonels. She may have behaved like a wildcat but he was certain that that was not her normal behaviour. She was probably much more gentle mannered. Even as he thought this though he noticed a change coming over the Colonel's face. His expression had changed slightly, the look of rapt fixation was being slowly replaced by that familiar coldness that he and all the other officers were accustomed to.

Shaking his head lightly he turned his attention back to the girl and her head wound. He had cleaned it and attended it as best as he could and he was certain that she would have no ill effects from it in the long term. In the short term though, he wanted her to continue what she was doing now, resting. He was more concerned by other markings that he had found on her. He had left her dressed as she was and attended only to the head wound and her abrasions on her legs and arms. As he had been cleaning her arms he had discovered something that had shocked him.

"Well Robbins, anything you can tell me about our little…scoundrel here? Any idea as to where she's from and how she came to be dressed so inappropriately and so far from any town?" Colonel Tavington's voice had a sharp, clear resonance that many men found grating in it's severity. His tone of voice was sometimes misleading, it could be taken to mean one thing when it really meant another. Sometimes, when he spoke, he could sound rather friendly but he really meant something much worse. Captain Wilkins had found this out to his dismay and had learned enough to always assume that the Colonel was serious in all aspects.

"Well I have to say Tavington, I'm confused, nay, stumped really. I've never come across a woman dressed in such…revealing garment's." "_Although I dare say that you have and quite a lot if the rumours I've heard about you are to be believed." _Robbins thought to himself, careful to keep his expression neutral so as not to insult the Colonel. He had a reputation as a womaniser, never settling for one woman when he could quite easily have as many that he wanted. He had power and his ability to charm the women was disarming, he could draw them to him like moths to a candle flame. He certainly had no qualms about using women and discarding them quite brutally afterwards although from what he knew, the women didn't seem to mind very much. They knew that the Colonel was not the kind of man to be tied down or be faithful to merely one woman.

"Come now Robbins, I find it hard to believe that a gentleman as old and as worldly as you has never set eyes on any other woman dressed…oh now what's a good word to use? Provocatively? Surely you have set eyes on the camp followers at one time or another?" Colonel Tavington smiled viciously, savouring the feeling of uncomfortable anger that the older man was quite clearly feeling. His face had flushed scarlet and he was working hard to disguise his anger. "Perhaps you have set more than your eyes on them hmm?" A tic had developed in his left eye and he looked ready to murder the younger officer. Setting his teeth he breathed in deeply, settling his temper before speaking.

"Forgive me _Colonel_, but I thought we were here to discuss your new arrival not fling about ridiculous accusations." It had only been the once, just once, when Mary had been crossing the sea to the colonies. He had been lonely and in need of comfort, of companionship. Lisette had been able to offer him that albeit in exchange for a high price and her sworn silence that Mary would never find out.

"As I was saying, I have never come across someone dressed like her but at the moment I am not concerned about her apparent lack of clothing. I am more concerned about her mental well-being." That shocked the other Colonel, wiping the smug smirk from his face almost instantly. Robbins was at least glad that he had managed to gain the other mans full attention. "You look confused Colonel and I must admit, when I discovered them myself, I was also very confused. If I may?" He gestured to where the Colonel was standing beside her and lifted one of her arms, gently, from under the blankets. Gesturing to the other Colonel, Tavington took hold of her other arm gently. Her skin was warm and soft in his hands.

"Have a look at her arms and tell me what you see. This is not a trick question, Colonel, any answer you give me is correct but there is something very obvious that you are missing. Something that even I did not come across for a while." Robbins gently turned her arm over so that her forearm and wrist were facing upwards. He knew what the other Colonel was looking for as his vivid blue eyes ran over the scratched and bruised skin. They were obvious but it had taken him a while to understand what they meant.

"I do not understand what I am meant to be looking for Colonel…" He stopped mid sentence as his eyes came across what he thought he was looking for. There on her wrist, just below the crease of her palm was a line, at least an inch and a half long, a scar, almost translucent against her lightly tanned skin. It seemed so out of place, a viciously straight line that was mirrored on her opposite wrist, he saw, as Robbins held up her other arm. He looked quizzically at the older man and was surprised by the look on his face. A look of supreme sadness was etched on his weathered face and for some strange, completely unknown reason, he felt sorry for the older man. His job was not one that he envied.

"What you are looking for Colonel is the markings on her wrists. I discovered them when I was cleaning her arms. At first they made no sense to me, I thought that perhaps she had sustained them in the fight but I was mistaken. They are too old and healed to be from her adventure in the tree and I, sadly, came to the conclusion that these were…self inflicted." Robbins felt his throat tighten slightly, he was nearing sixty now and he had seen many things in his life but this was the worst, personally, this was too tragic to believe. Colonel Tavington's eyes widened at the statement and his hands tightened on her arm, gently but still quite firmly.

"Self inflicted? But then, you mean to say that she…tried to…" He was aghast, the words were stuck in his throat and seemed to refuse to be spoken.

"Tried to kill herself? Yes, sadly that is what I am saying. She has tried, for whatever reason, to take her own life and has, thankfully, failed." Robbins felt a heavy weight on his chest. He was confused and by the looks of things, so was Colonel Tavington. "I cannot think of any reason why she would have done such a thing, but then, we do not know her. She will have had her reasons but they are her own and it would be best if we did not pry or force a confession out of her, she is in my opinion, too fragile for such a thing."

Tavington was barely listening to the older man now, his focus was once again riveted to the young woman laying in front of him. _"Why would she have done such a thing?"_ He asked himself. He was horrified that she had done this, marred herself and tried in vain to end her own existence. _"What has happened to her that she could even consider something so…barbaric?" _He didn't even notice as he idly stroked her arm, his fingers grazing over the scar on her wrist as he searched her face, trying almost in vain to somehow find the answers written on her lovely face. As he held her arm he also noticed a strange dark mark on her wrist, it was some sort of marking, black writing on her skin and it looked as if it had been there a while. It was a letter, the letter "m" but the tail had a flick to it at the end and bent outwards at a point. It was unusual and he wondered what it was. He wondered if Robbins had any understanding of it?

"Do you hear me Colonel?" His attention snapped back to Robbins immediately and the older man continued, his expression fierce as he spoke. "It is imperative that you do nothing to upset or provoke this young lady. Anything you say to her could have an adverse effect. There must be no threatening behaviour or any such malicious activities or threats to her in any way, do I make myself clear?"

"Unfortunately it's a little too late for that Robbins. When we first encountered her there was an…altercation between us and words were said and threats…were indeed made." Tavington's voice was like ice, clipped, cold and brittle, like an iceberg ready to snap off and drop into the arctic depths. Robbins sighed, running his fingers over his eyes before snapping his gaze back to the other man.

"And what, pray tell, did you say to her? You might have caused significant damage to her mentally, not to mention physically. I am hoping this head wound is not of your own doing? Although I would be surprised if it wasn't, the rumours I hear about you and your methods." Robbins was furious. Who knew what kind of damage he had caused the girl?

"You can rest easy, Robbins, that it was not I who inflicted the wound on her. She had the injury when we came across her and it is no doubt what caused her loss of consciousness. I did not lay a hand on her in any way other than to lift her up and bring her here and on my _own_ mount if you must know. However she has sustained this injury, I was not the cause of it." Tavington was seething as he spoke, the words were forced out between gritted teeth as he spoke to the older Colonel. How dare he accuse him of such a thing! Harming a woman? And one such as this one, so lovely and innocent to look at but with a heart of fire and a will as strong and unyielding as iron. Yes he had threatened her and her dratted dog but he knew that he would have never followed through on the threats. They had been empty, meaningless.

"You have not answered my question Colonel Tavington. I repeat: What did you say to her?" Robbins' voice was cold and demanding, his need for an answer almost unbearable. He had to know what was said, he simply had to.

"I merely threatened to shoot her out of the tree she had climbed into to escape from us. I saw her when we were on patrol today and I was immediately suspicious due to her lack of clothing or escort. She saw us, fled, we made chase and she escaped into a tree so as to hide from us. I asked her to come down and she refused. Captain Wilkins also tried to appeal to her but to no avail. She also managed to injure several of my officers by throwing rocks at them. I believe you attended them earlier?" Tavington's voice had no emotion in it as he spoke, the tone was flat, cold, as if he was relaying a report to Lord Cornwallis, he had a detached manner to him, as if he had other things that he could be doing.

Robbins was appalled. He knew that the Colonels reputation was barbaric but this? This was monstrous, threatening to shoot a young woman who had, by the looks of things, merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time? What had the man been thinking? Was it merely a matter of injured pride that she had disobeyed him and he had not wanted to lose face in front of his officers? Or was it something else, some dark, twisted pleasure he took from threatening others, especially ones who could not fight back? He could not hold his silence, not on this horrendous matter.

"Colonel Tavington I am disgusted by your actions. Before I met you I had heard a great many stories about you, about your actions, your manners, your apparent blood lust in battle but I assumed them just to be idle talk. Jealous, malicious banter by young men envious of your good fortune and merit in battle. Now I know that every one of those stories I have heard is true. You are a despicable man and you have threatened this poor girl for no reason other than the fact that she disobeyed you. She is not one of your men, Colonel, and therefore had every right to ignore your order. I hope that when she wakes she will be able to shine more light on this situation as I feel that not all that happened has been told to me." Robbins voice was shaking slightly as he spoke, his nerves seemed almost frayed as he was so angered.

"How dare you speak to _me_ in such a manner! You forget your place, _sir_, I outrank you. We may both be Colonels but I at least see battle and what do you do? You merely stitch up the wounded, the ones who, like you, are unworthy to be physically involved in this war. If you should ever speak to me in such a manner again, I will personally see to it that you are whipped for your insubordination!" Tavington was furious, he could not believe that the old man had spoken to him in such a manner. Who was he to question his methods? He was merely a medic, the job was simple enough, even for him, someone who had obviously never been good enough to join the army proper.

"Well, I see that you obviously know yours, _sir_. If that is all you have to say then I must ask you to leave. If you stay and continue to rant in such a manner then you will only cause further distress to the lady. I will inform you if she wakes up but do not think of returning here until she does, I would be grateful not to have to see you again. Good day." Robbins waved his hand towards the entrance before turning his attention back to the girl. For a moment he thought he had seen, out the corner of his eye, a movement. She seemed to have smiled slightly. Enraged, Tavington stalked off, his thoughts incensed, angered, wrathful. He had never been so insulted and by someone like him? It was infuriating.

Robbins watched the younger Colonel stalk away, even his walk was inflamed by his rage and he felt a great sympathy for any poor Dragoon or indeed any other soldier that was caught in his path. He waited until he was gone from the tent and then a little longer. He counted to twenty under his breath before he turned his gaze back to the young woman lying on the cot.

"It's alright my dear, you can stop pretending now. I am well aware that you are awake and only feigning sleep." He smiled as he watched her frown slightly before opening her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of sky blue, the outer rim of the iris was dark blue progressing to the lighter blue around the pupil and was flecked with bright yellow. They were unusual, bright and beautiful and incredibly alert as she looked around before her gaze alighted on him. Cat's eyes, that's what they were like.

"Umm, hi. Thanks for that, he sounded like he was in a really pissed off mood and I don't want to annoy him any more than I have done today!" Robbins smiled at the young lady as she smiled meekly back at him. She had a very sweet demeanour, he was at a loss as to how Tavington had lost his temper and threatened her. "So, umm…" She raised her eyebrows at him in a questioning way and he realised what she was asking,

"Robbins, my dear, Colonel John Robbins, Chief Surgeon of the medical barracks and here to help you in, what is quite clearly, your hour of need." Ali smiled, he was a sweet man, charming and self assured but kind and polite. From what she had heard he was concerned for her, after he had discovered her scars he had obviously realised that was a lot more fragile than most people thought.

"Thank you, Colonel, it was very kind of you to help me and defend me. I'm Ali, Ali McGregor. It's really Alison but I prefer Ali to be honest, it's a little more informal but it's what I prefer." She sat up as she spoke, pulling the covers down around her waist and examining the scratches on her arms as she did so. He was watching her as she did this, intrigued by her mannerisms and her way of speaking. She was certainly more forward and astute than any of the women that he knew personally, apart from Mary that was.

"It's quite alright my dear, as I said, I am here to help you in any way. Now, Miss McGregor, I must ask: what on earth were you doing wandering around the country on your own? These are not safe times, my dear, not safe at all. We are in the middle of a war after all and there are more than enough men willing to take advantage of a beautiful and un-escorted woman…" He frowned at the look on her face. She had been running her hand over her wounded forehead and had paused in her actions as he had spoken. She looked confused and then surprised, her features arranged in a manner of disbelief.

"Wait. What did you say? We're in a _war_? What do you mean a war? How can we be in a war, where am I? _When_ am I?" She had been trying to put things together in her mind but it wasn't until Colonel Robbins had told her that they were in a war that she had realised that what she had thought earlier was true. She had thought that the soldiers stampeding towards her had been a re-enactment but she had been quite obviously mistaken. If what he had said was true then this was serious and there was no way that she was still in 2009. But what had happened? Had she banged her head too hard and this was a dream? It was far too realistic to be a dream, the wounds she had sustained were evidence enough. So back to the only real and valid conclusion: she must have…ugh, she could barely think to mentally or vocally confirm it. She had, deep breath,…time travelled. Oh God! How was this possible? Did the fates hate her that much that they liked to mess with her like this?

"Well, yes my dear. We are currently entrenched in a war between the Colonies of America and England. We have been fighting for nearly three years now and we are currently stationed here, in South Carolina, with the hopes that the armies will make progress and we will be heading for North Caro…!" Whumph! Robbins eyes nearly bulged out of his head and he made a frantic grab for her as she tumbled backwards to the ground.

"I'm fine, really, I'm…ok. Just bruised my backside is all! Ok, I'm alright now, great, just fantastic…seriously." She hauled herself to her feet, and stood beside the cot bed, breathing deeply as she tried to come to terms with what the Colonel had just told her. _"Ok so from what he's told me, from the way the guys were dressed and the fact that they were all English then he's right, he's not lying to me and I don't think he has any reason to. And this is the middle of the Revolutionary War! Which makes it…oh my god, this is the 18__th__ century! WHY DO THE GODS HATE ME! This is so fucking unfair! _Her thoughts were skittering all over the place and she was getting slightly hacked off with herself. She could also feel a rising bubble of panic and hysteria in her chest and it was rising out of her quickly and she knew that it was going to be difficult to stop it.

"Are you well, my dear? That was a nasty tumble and in your injured state I would think that you need to take another tumble like you need another head!" Ali looked at him for a long moment, his words sinking into her and she smiled slightly. Laughter was bubbling up from her chest and out of her mouth before she could stop it. She was laughing loudly, hysterically and she knew that it was unnerving the man, the look on his face was one of fear and confusion but namely for her.

"This..hee hee…is…haa haa…rid…iculous…ha ha! How can this…even…be possible? I'm supposed to be…travelling back home…in 2009 and instead…I'm here in…in…?" She had stopped laughing and was now gasping for breath as she spoke, trying to come to terms with what had happened. The Colonel hadn't responded yet and she knew that he was probably waiting for her to calm down before answering.

"The year is 1778 my dear." Ali stopped panting the second he had finished speaking and dropped her head, breathing even deeper to calm herself and so as not to cause herself a panic attack. Robbins was deeply concerned for the girl, she was even more fragile than he had first thought. "I take it that this is news to you?" She looked up and smiled slightly, nodding in agreement. "I see. If I may ask, when and where are you from?"

"I'm from the year 2009 which, from my calculations, is 231 years in the future from you and from this war. You don't have to believe me, I mean, it's so far out sounding that I barely believe myself but…it _is true_! When I hit my head it was eleven in the morning on June 5th 2009 and now it's…whatever time it is in 1778. I feel like Alice, poor bitch, now I know exactly how she must have felt." Robbins frowned, more at her language than this Alice person she was talking about. "It feels like this is a dream, like I'm going to wake up an moment but I'm not am I? It's really not a dream, is it?" Robbins smiled at her sadly and shook his head. She sighed, oh well, she had to try.

"I must say that it does sound rather fantastical but…" He paused for a moment and she raised her head to catch the look in his eyes. There was no judgement there, no angry or frustrated expression. It was merely one of infinite kindness and hope. "I don't think that you have any reason to lie to me. Yes, it is clear to me that you are or have been, in shock, but believe me my dear, I am old enough and worldly enough to believe in many things. I have been around and I have seen many strange things and yes, this may be the most incredible but it is the most believable and the proof…is standing right in front of me. Who am I to dispute what you say? That is not my place and I will do no such thing. My main concern is getting you better." Ali felt tears stinging in her eyes but she swallowed hard, determined not to cry.

"Thank you. You're…really, very kind. And you're dealing with it a lot better than I am! I mean, seriously, look at me, I'm shaking like a leaf and I'm a mess. Mentally _and_ physically!" She shook her head sadly, this was a way out situation and she had no idea of what to do next. "Ok so I have to get back and I need help. Is there anything you can do?"

"Well my dear, I do not see what I can do to help, exactly. I mean, if I were able to click my fingers and you were sent back immediately then believe me, I would. At the moment I think that you are stuck here with us. Cheer up, my dear, it could be worse. You could have been caught by the Rebels and believe me, you don't want that." She was surprised by the dark look in his eyes when he said that, and his tone of voice was angrier than she had expected. Clearly the Rebels weren't all the patriotic goody-goody's that the books painted them to be. She shuddered as she though of what could have happened to her if they had found her.

Robbins noticed her shudder and took her hands, squeezing them gently and smiling at her warmly as she looked at him. He was a very sweet man and she knew that it was no act. His job was obviously one that was tiring and difficult but somehow he was able to keep a brave face on things. Bitterly, she wondered how long it would take before he cracked, no-one could keep up a bravado like that for long. She knew that from bitter experience.

"Excuse me for prying, my dear, and I will go no further if you wish me not to, but how did you get these marks?" He turned her wrists around gently so that her forearms were facing up and her scars were visible. She felt a flash of remembrance. The bathroom. The water splashing rapidly into the tub had been scalding and freezing at the same time. The feel of the blade as she pressed it into her flesh. No pain, surprising that there had been no pain, just a release and then blackness.

She said nothing as he stood there watching her intently, his eyes rooted to her face. She looked far away, lost in memory or thought. Suddenly she glanced down at her arms, still held lightly in his grasp and pulled them back rapidly, holding them to her chest and clenching her eyes shut tightly.

"You do not wish to speak of it, do you?" He queried her, still watching her intently. She shook her head rapidly from side to side. That was an obvious answer "no" to his question. "Very well. I shall not pry any further into what is clearly a very personal and private matter for you. However, should you ever wish to talk to me about it, then please, know that I would keep anything you tell me in the strictest of confidences."

Ali smiled as she spoke, relieved that he was so understanding and sensitive over the matter. Her suicide attempt was not something that she was proud of, not in any way, but it was something that had happened and she had learned to deal with it over the past few years. She barely spoke about it though, she had talked enough about the matter to her therapist and she considered the matter not closed but maybe on definite hiatus. She would deal with it fully some day but not yet, she had plenty of time to deal with it.

"Thank you Colonel, that's really nice of you. Now, umm, I was wondering…" Her sentence was cut off by the arrival of a new soldier entering the tent and approaching them both. She recognised the man immediately. It was the handsome soldier who had tried to reason with her when she was entrenched in the tree and hurling rocks at his fellow soldiers. He was tall, really, _really_ tall. Taller than Danny and even taller than Ethan from back home. He was so handsome that she felt it should be illegal, his uniform only added to his good looks and he filled the outfit perfectly. She knew that if Becca had been there she would have had to physically restrain her fellow brunette. This man was a damn fine specimen of manhood and she would have most likely jumped him without a second thought. Mind you, she did that with most men. "Monogamy" and "Stable Relationship" were not in her dictionary.

"Colonel Robbins, good to see you, sir." He had marched up to them both and saluted the Colonel. Robbins nodded and the younger soldier turned to her, a smile lighting up his face and mischief alight in his warm brown eyes. He took her hand and, raising it to his lips, kissed it softly. "Nice to see you again miss, I'm pleased that you are awake and obviously feeling better after your incident. Allow me to introduce myself, Captain James Wilkins of His Majesties Green Dragoons and your humble servant."

Well, this was new to her, the guys back home certainly never introduced themselves in this way. Usually they walked up to her and just said "Hey" or "What's up?" or some other comment, usually profane if it was Ethan or Aiden.

"Umm hi…thanks, I think. It's good to see you again. Sorry I wasn't very co-operative with you when you spoke to me, I just wasn't up to dealing with the situation…as you can tell!" He smiled as she spoke, still clasping her small hand between both his larger and warmer ones. Good grief was he handsome and so tall! He was well over six feet, probably pushing six four which made him half a foot taller than Danny.

"That's quite all right miss, I can understand completely that you must have felt very…uncertain when we came across you and our chasing cannot have helped make a very good impression of us in your mind." Well, did he know how to get himself out of an ear bashing or what! He had a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth and she couldn't help but all out grin at him. He was a charmer but he was very sincere with it, she could tell. He seemed so out of place here though, his American accent stuck out as much as she did.

"So miss, can you tell me anything about how you came to be out in the middle of the country on your own?" She rolled her eyes at the question and Robbins chuckled softly. Wilkins looked slightly confused before she answered him.

"Sorry it's just that Colonel Robbins has already asked me that and I still haven't exactly answered him. It's a bit complicated. Maybe he should explain what I _have_ told him." Wilkins frowned slightly at her before turning to face the Colonel and hear what he had to say. She knew that he was going to be more than a little taken aback by the answer.

It didn't take long for both the Colonel and Ali to tell Wilkins exactly what she had previously told him. He had a rather interesting look on his face as they relayed the tale, Ali taking over and explaining more fully when Robbins had told him all that he could. He looked like he had been told that he had won all the money in the world but only had a week to live, his face was so flabbergasted looking. She was trying very hard not to outright laugh at him but it was proving difficult and she was resorting to chewing on the inside of her cheek quite firmly so as not to giggle. She was nearing the end of her tale and the Captain was listening quite intently, his warm brown eyes fully focused on her as she spoke.

"…so the next thing I know I've woken up in here and I'm listening to the Colonel argue with…the other Colonel about his behaviour towards me. I was pretending to be asleep, a fact that _this_ Colonel didn't miss." Robbins smiled as she looked at him, shaking her head as she mockingly scolded him. "So he gives the _other _Colonel a right earful and he storms off, wish I could have seen _that_, and then he told me to "wake up" so he could talk to me and I told him exactly where I'm from. Then you came in and here we are!" Wilkins had blanched slightly and she was beginning to get slightly worried about him. Just as she was reaching out to shake him slightly he blinked. Shaking himself he looked at her seriously, all traces of humour had disappeared from his eyes. She felt slightly nervous, he looked like he was ready to march her to a court marshal.

"You expect me to believe all this…this fantastical notion that you are from a different time from us?" his question was a fair one, she had to concede. She had, naively, expected him to just blindly accept her explanation just as Robbins had. Unfortunately he was a younger and greener man and she could only place him roughly aged at about thirty or slightly younger. He probably hadn't seen as much of the world as Robbins had so was obviously more prone to suspicion and being a soldier he was obviously more used to straight facts and not mystical or supernatural forces. Time travel was definitely way out of his comfort zone.

"Look I know that this sounds ridiculous, I've already told Robbins that. I've got no reason to lie to you though. I'm not a spy or a Rebel, I have no loyalties to either side, this war has no meaning for me, at least not in the way you think. The result of this war is already decided when I'm from so it means nothing to me. I'm not here to get any information from you and relay it to others, that's the last thing I would do." Sighing in exasperation she sat down with a thump on the cot, running her hands through her hair as she sighed rather grumpily and, she had to admit, rather melodramatically. This was not going well. "I just want to go _home_!"

Wilkins seemed to snap out of his mood when she said this, his eyes filled once again with that lovely warm light and he smiled. He took her hands again and, raising her eyes to meet his, smiled at her warmly, his face open and accepting and he nodded at her.

"I apologise, this tale, as fantastical and extraordinary as it is, is clearly true. As you said, you have no reason to lie to us and I believe you. I have met many liars and you are not one, miss. For one thing, you are far to beautiful and kind to be able to lie in any way that would be deemed vicious or unseemly." She blushed and looked at her feet. _What was it with these guys telling her she was Beautiful? _She thought. None of the guys back home were so open in compliments.

"Thank you Captain, I appreciate that. Now can any of you tell me where my dog is?" The men chuckled lightly, amused that she was anxious to find her pet. Wilkins especially was amused but he was unable to tell her where the animal had been taken.

"Unfortunately I do not know where your animal has been taken but I am certain that we can find out once we are at the fort." Ali looked confused and Wilkins mentally cursed himself. He had meant to explain to her immediately when he came into the tent about what was going to happen but he had been too enamoured by her to tell her. She had been simply so captivating to talk to that he had forgotten all about his orders from his commander. He knew that if he did not do his duty then he would be reprimanded. Severely.

"Yes miss. Lord General Cornwallis has been informed of today's…events and he would like to meet and question you. He will want to know what you are doing here and where your loyalties lie. I am under the assumption that Colonel Tavington has informed him that you are a spy for the Rebels." Ali was angered by this news. Ok so she had to meet some British army bigwig, fine. But this Tavington guy, who was undoubtedly the cold bastard that had ordered her out of the tree lest she or her dog be shot, had told him that _he _thought that _she _was a spy? Prick.

"So umm…any ideas what I should tell him? I mean, if I tell him the truth is he likely to have me burned as a witch or something?" Robbins frowned, no-one was burned as a witch any more She was obviously thinking of the Salem Witch Trials which had been some hundred or more years previously.

"I think that the truth will be the best my dear. After all, as you have told us, you have no reason to lie to any of us and this is merely, by the looks of things, a fluke. You are not meant to be here and you are obviously eager to get home." Ali nodded her head vigorously at his comment and both men smiled. "Should you need any help then simply tell Lord Cornwallis to speak with me or Captain Wilkins here. We are on your side and willing to help you, should you need it." Ali was torched, profoundly so. These men barely knew her but they were willing to vouch for her after only really talking with her for a few minutes.

"Thank you Colonel Robbins, I'm so grateful for your help." She managed to shock them all by jumping off the cot and hugging the older man tightly. Somewhat shocked, Robbins was unsure of what to do for a moment before he hugged her back lightly, patting her back affectionately. Releasing her he stood back and smiled at her once more. She really was a most unusual woman but at the same time extraordinary. She was beautiful, intelligent and kind and he was sure that she would be able to fix her problems. Even her mental ones, as complicated as they may be.

"I shall take you now miss, I am supposed to take you to Colonel Tavington and he will be taking you to the fort and Lord Cornwallis." Ali rolled her eyes and Robbins smiled as she did so. Taking her hand he kissed it lightly before shooing her out of the tent gently. She grinned back at him as she left.

* * *

Outside the tent the air was still thick with the same heat as earlier. It didn't appear that the temperature would be dropping any time soon and she could feel herself start to perspire lightly as she walked with the Captain. He was walking slowly beside her and she could tell it wasn't his normal walk. He was obviously slowing down to match her own slower pace due to her head wound. Usually she walked a lot more briskly herself, her friends were always telling her to slow down.

"I am sorry this had to happen to you miss. It does not seem fair on any account that you have had such an unbelievable event happen to you." Wilkins commented as they walked. Ali shook her head at that, it _was_ incredible that it had happened. Then again, sucky things always seemed to happen to her.

"Yeah, it sucks, but I'll survive. Tough as nails me!" She stated, drawing a surprised but admiring glance form the handsome captain. God he was _hot_! She wondered if he was single? She wasn't really looking at anything in particular as they walked but all around her was the bustle of army life and several things caught her eye. Soldiers marched all around the place, there were weapons being mended here and there and tents were pitched all over the place. Looking back she couldn't even make out the one she had been in. As she walked with the Captain she couldn't help but notice people staring at her. Several times she saw soldiers gaping open mouthed at her and she was surprised to see one go walking straight into a tent as he openly stared at her. She giggled a little at that but ultimately she felt very uncomfortable. Women from this time did not go flaunting their legs around, she knew, and here she was, doing just that.

"Ahh Wilkins, about time, I was beginning to wonder where you had got to. Next time I give you an order make sure you complete it quicker, understand?" Damn. That sanctimonious asshole was standing right in front of them. She had thought that they might have taken a little bit longer to get where they were going but obviously not. That familiar icy voice was not comforting in the least. And the way that he spoke, with that condescending tone…bloody hell! They had apparently reached their destination and a little too soon she thought. She didn't want to be spending any more time with the bastard that had been so cruel to her, it wasn't really top of her "To Do" list.

"Excuse me sir, the young lady was explaining to me how she came to be in the fields this afternoon. I thought you would want me to at least find that out." Ooh he was good, even she could see that. The Colonel frowned at his statement, clearly annoyed that his subordinate had taken so long in doing as he had ordered but pleased that he had managed to extract the information he needed from her as well.

"Very good Wilkins, that will be all." His tone was clear: He was to go, immediately. Wilkins saluted, his posture ramrod straight before turning and leaving, giving her the smallest of smiles as he did. Great, now she was left alone with the man who had threatened to kill her _and_ her dog _and _ridden her down _and _was looking her in that horrible lecherous way that he had done before.

Strangely enough it wasn't making her as uncomfortable as it had done before. Now she was out of the tree and they were both on the ground she was able to get a better look at him. As he stood there looking her over unashamedly so she did the same to him.

She immediately wished that she hadn't. He may have been able to give her such a look (that it felt like a searchlight running over her) without blushing but she was having a harder time. "_Oh well, when in doubt, act like you __don't care and give as much attitude as possible"._ Crossing her arms over her chest, and knowing full well that this made her already ample bust even more ample, she did as he was doing to her, running his eyes over her in a way that made her feel completely naked even though she was fully, well almost, clothed.

She had thought that Wilkins was handsome and when she had seen the Colonel before she had thought that he was attractive as well but now seeing him, without the threat of passing out, she was able to appreciate just how damn attractive he was. He wasn't as tall as the Captain, he was maybe a few inches shorter than him but he was just as powerfully built, his uniform fitting him snugly, enhancing just how handsome he was. "_God what is it with men in uniforms that gets chicks, me included, so worked up?"_ She had no answer, well, no coherent one. At the moment her mind was making barely any sense other than almost neanderthal grunts. He was hot, no two ways about it. Great body, all muscular and powerful looking and packed into his uniform so beautifully she almost felt like whimpering. He had dark hair, not brown but almost raven black and it was pulled back quite severely from his face in, well, not a ponytail but some sort of braid. His face was well structured but if there was any flaw it was that he was too severe looking, like he rarely smiled and if he did it was probably quite unpleasant.

His eyes were what chilled her slightly as they had before. There was no warmth in them, none at all. They were arctic pools of blue and she felt extremely intimidated when she looked into them. She'd be damned if she was going to show any weakness in front of him though. Well, again, she'd already passed out in front of him.

"Ok you done? Think you could pull me out of a line up now?" Her bitter tone broke the tension between them. He frowned at her tone and her statement. "_Line up? What on earth did she mean?"_ He had been enjoying looking at her again, now that she was conscious and able to stand without the threat of blood loss to knock her out again. She really was lovely to look at, well, when she wasn't throwing rocks at his men or threatening him with a pistol. Her clothing was rather bedraggled looking and she had untied the shirt around her waist so that it now covered her stomach. That was disappointing, he mused, she had a lovely stomach and he was not used to seeing a woman's belly like she had been displaying. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a defensive gesture but also, he noted, rather amused, one of confidence. Her folded arms also raised her chest higher and increased her already full bosom even more. The top of her shirt was still unbuttoned slightly so he was able to see the swell of her breasts against the open neckline of her shirt. Her legs were still also uncovered and he was, he admitted to himself, having a hard time pulling his eyes away from them. It was just not normal to see a woman's legs and he was relishing the fact that she seemed not to give a damn about showing them off.

"I was merely checking to see if you had sustained any other injuries in your fall. Apparently you have not although you do seem unable to dress accordingly when about to meet Lord Cornwallis and that is a worry." He lied smoothly, smirking as she frowned and glanced down at her legs. Shrugging she met his eyes gain and grinned wildly.

"Who gives a damn what I wear? At least I'm not going to meet him naked?" Damn. Now he had a wonderful but completely inappropriate image of her naked in his head. Gritting his teeth he moved quickly over to her until he was only an inch or so away from her. He could still smell her hair, that lovely lemon scent and it was doing things to him.

"Listen to me carefully, girl. This man you are going to meet holds the most sway over everything that is happening in this country and this war. Each and every man answers to him and he wields the final say on every matter even if it is the most trivial thing. You will show him respect and you will show me the same understand?" Ali swallowed nervously, it was incredibly unnerving having him standing right in front of her, she could practically feel him against her and she could _smell_ him. Mmm, he smelled good, spicy and woody and completely masculine. She flushed as she realised what she was thinking, damn this wasn't good. She nodded in understanding and was relieved when he backed off.

"Good, I'm glad you understand. Let me make one thing clear: you are an incident that should not have happened. Wherever you are from I hope that you will return there quickly. I have many more important things to be doing than shepherding possible spies to Lord Cornwallis. My time is valuable, I am trying to win this war and I have duties that need doing. You will mind yourself around me or face the consequences. Do I make myself clear?" Ali felt sick, frightened and incredibly hurt. This man had no feelings, no emotions. He was an automaton. She nodded in understanding again. Turning he strode over to the horses that were standing tethered to a post just behind him. One was jet black, the one he was currently mounting and the other was a lovely sandy beige. Obviously this one was for her.

"Well? Are you able to mount the beast or do you need a tree to drop out of?" That did it! Cheeky prick. Scowling at him as he smirked viciously and fastened his helmet she stalked over to the horse and grabbed the reins. She was able to mount a horse from the ground, of course she could, she was more than competent at riding. Lifting her right leg and catching the stirrup she hoisted herself up in a single smooth motions, sliding her left leg over to catch the other stirrup as she positioned herself in the saddle. Out the corner of her eye she could see him watching her, an appreciative look in his eyes as she moved in the saddle.

"So shouldn't we hurry up? We don't want to keep his Lordship waiting do we?" She smirked at him as she spurred the horse on gently and set off from him, trying hard to keep the laughter and the smug tone out of her voice. He scowled and spurred his own horse on, taking her over so that he could lead the way. She caught up with him soon enough and called over to him.

"Just so you know, you're an arrogant prick and the last person in the world that I would want to be taking me to meet this guy, the Lord General or whoever but I guess we're stuck huh?" She giggled and spurred the horse on again so that she was just in front of him.

He snarled under his breath. "_Impudent little wench!" _If he was any less of a man he would have had her beaten for that remark but he knew that he wouldn't. There was something about her, something…tantalising. Even as she rode, she was glorious, her hair streaming out behind her, she didn't seem to have a care in the world. How was it that this girl, this stubborn, ungrateful little hell cat was the same person whom had tried to end her own life? He was confused by her actions, her manner of speaking and her dress, although he did not mind in the slightest that she bared her legs so enticingly. She was a mystery, as he had thought before, a paradox.

He had a feeling that she was going to make his life very interesting. Whether he wanted her to or not.

**

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A/N: The poem that Ali recites to herself is "Into my heart an air that kills" by A. E. Houseman. I like this and thought that it was sweet and calming, definitely what Ali needed. Read and review please. Nice reviews will be met by hugs and cookies. Flames will be met by fire extinguishers and shotguns.


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